The South Carolina securities commissioner has filed a complaint against a former Upstate councilman, accusing him of scamming people who thought they were investing in silver.

On Monday, Attorney General Alan Wilson filed a complaint against former Anderson County Councilman Ronnie Gene Wilson and Atlantic Bullion & Coin, Inc., saying that, despite a previous cease and desist order, Wilson and AB&C continued to offer fake investment opportunities to people in South Carolina and 24 other states.

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The attorney general serves as the South Carolina Securities Commissioner.

The complaint says that Wilson and AB&C provided statements to investors indicating that they owned silver when no silver had ever been purchased.

According to the complaint, Wilson met with representatives of the Securities Division in February and testified under oath that he and AB&Cs business bought bars of silver that he would either deliver to clients or that clients would pick up. The complaint says that there is no evidence to back up Wilsons claims.

The attorney general alleges that Wilson has actually been running a Ponzi scheme in which earlier investors were being paid with the money from new investors, and no silver was ever purchased.

In all, Wilson is accused of defrauding investors in 25 states of more than $70 million.

Patty, who did not want her last name revealed, said her 90-year-old father invested with Wilson. She and her family have met with people in the state attorney general's office.

"I guess I'm numb, and maybe hopeful that maybe (Wilson) can come up with all this money for all the other people, and just still hoping that it's not going to ruin some many people's lives that are involved," said Patty. "You have to keep in mind (my) daddy's age. He just trusts people. He's always -- I think that's with a lot of older people in their generation. Their word was their word and my father's word was his word, and he felt that this man's word was his word."

Paul Brown, a well-known Anderson journalist and News 4 contributor said he invested all his savings in Wilson's company.

"We had confidence in him. We thought he was a legitimate businessman. He was an entrepreneur. He had the best interests of the community at heart, we thought, and yet from the very beginning he was lying to all of us," said Brown. "We want our money back, but if we can't get our money back, because of how he treated us and other people, I think the consensus is let him rot in jail for the rest of his life."

Wilson was elected in 2007 to represent Anderson County Council District 6. He decided not to seek re-election last year and was replaced by Ken Waters in January 2011.

Wilson was also the former national commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and served from 2002 to 2004. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the South Carolina Senate in 2004.

Lawsuit Indirectly Involves Wilson

The AG complaint is not the first time Wilson has been publicly criticized.

In May 2009, the Anderson County Republican Party censured Wilson saying, among other things, Wilson has brought a cloud of controversy on his office by rewarding the former county administrator (Joey Preston) with a $1.14 million buyout contract, just 18 days after (Wilsons) daughter, Allison Schaum, received an open-ended contract from the Anderson County Administrator with a three year buyout clause.

Anderson County filed a lawsuit against Preston in January 2009 to try to reclaim the severance package that was awarded to him in November 2008.

In February, Seventh Circuit Judge Roger Couch was assigned to hear all the motions in the pending case.

Refresh this page for more information on this developing story as it becomes available.